Art exhibition in bid to raise funds for students with special needs

DUBAI: Art Without Frontiers, an exhibition by Maite Defruc, a renowned Spanish artist to support Rashid Centre for the Disabled, kicked off at the Dubai Creek and Golf Club.

The exhibition of 40 bronze sculptures of various sizes depicting a wide range of human life was inaugurated by Sheikh Juma Bin Maktoum Bin Juma Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Rashid Centre for the Disabled in the presence of Eugenio Salarich, Spanish Ambassador to the UAE.

The event was also attended by a large number of officials from various government departments, members of the Spanish community based in Dubai, and patrons of the Rashid Centre.

The exhibition showcased 40 masterpieces of bronze sculptures. Six sculptures will be auctioned to raise funds for Rashid Centre for the Disabled.

“The proceeds of any six sculptures auctioned during the three-day exhibition will be handed over to Rashid Centre as a gift,” Defruc told The Gulf Today on the sidelines of the exhibition.

At the end of the exhibition, 10 of the 40 sculptures will be kept at the golf club for visitors to admire the masterpieces of the Spanish artist.

Sheikh Juma said the centre was honoured by the Spanish artist’s visit to Dubai to support the centre. “We are glad to be associated with the Spanish community in Dubai, especially with Maite Defruc. We are humbled by her generous gesture of offering her artwork to raise funds for the centre,” he said.

Maryam Othman, Director General of the Rashid Centre for the Disabled, appreciated the artist, who recently visited the centre and spent time with the students with special needs.

She also praised Defruc for taking time off to share her art skills with differently-abled art students of the centre.

The event is Defruc’s second charity initiative, where she has used her artwork to raise funds for humanitarian causes. In 2010, she was part of a fundraising gala dinner in which eight of her sculptures were auctioned and the raised funds were directed to victims of floods in Pakistan.

Prior to that, she had her first exhibition at Wafi Mall in 1999. The exhibition witnessed a huge response from not only the Spanish community based in the UAE, but also other expat communities.

The UAE has around 16,000 Spanish expatriates involved in a wide range of businesses and careers.

The price range for a sculpture is Dhs6,000 to Dhs80,000. Defruc has over the years been making sculptures using bronze artwork.